Mulligan rides first winner at Dundalk

Rory Mulligan registered a first winner with a leg-up from new employer trainer Johnny Murtagh today, as the 17 year old landed Dundalk's Dundalk Stadium Gift Vouchers Available Online Handicap on Daamberdiplomat (13/2).

Racing mid-field, Mulligan waited for a gap between horses two furlongs out and while the chasing runner-up Dontspoilasale threatened in the closing stages, failed by a head.

Mulligan, 17 and from Navan, reported “Dad was a jockey, I rode seven or eight winners pony racing and when I signed on to trainer Pat Martin he got me plenty rides and experience.

“I'm only with Johnny (Murtagh) two and a half weeks so it was nice of him to put me up on one straightaway.

“This is unbelievable and is exactly what I've been waiting for.”

He added “I'm 7st8lb so I'm lucky with my weight and I'm being coached by Niall McCullagh. He set me up with Johnny and said it would be a good spot to go, so he wasn't wrong. He spent 50 minutes talking to me about the race today so a big thanks to him.

“I was expecting to get him (Daamberdiplomat) out in mid-division, which I did, and a furlong and-a-half out I knew I was full of horse and when I went for him he kept going.

“Passing the line I hadn't a clue I had won! One of the lads told me when I was pulling up.”

Quotes from Michael Graham